Climbing Glass Walls with Synthetic Gecko Toes

Nov-25-14 Researchers have created gecko-inspired adhesive hand pads that enable a person to climb up a glass wall.

The hand pads, developed by a team from Stanford University, are connected to footholds covered with the same adhesive, which allows the climber to take some of their weight off their arms and shoulders. The pads are covered with an array of smaller, postage stamp-sized tiles that have in turn been coated with silicon rubber hairs called microwedges, which can attach and detach without losing their adhesive qualities. The smaller tiles allow all of the adhesive material to make contact with the surface at the same time--increasing the holding force. The unique qualities of the adhesive also make it ideal for climbing: stepping on one of the footholds will cause it to generate the adhesive force needed to stick to wall, and stepping off the foothold will detach it.

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